As a kid I remmeber these cool black and blue Penney's signs glowing in the night ....again, there was some style to it, not just simple manuscript.

We'd go to Atlanta and visit Perimeter Mall (late, late 60's) and I still remember the low and sleek look of that Penney's logo ...sadly, that particular store was demolished and replaced with a Dillard's.

That's what struck me the most about those old signs too, Todd. Unlike most other signage of the era, which was mostly the usual illuminated channel letters, Penney went with that 'shilouete' effect. The exception being the blue segment of the "P". Way ahead of its time.

Many malls in the Wisconsin area with this style. Memorial (Sheboygan..only 'Penneys'-era store that has closed), Mid-Cities (Manitowoc...there was a post on this mall in the blog somewhere), West and East Towne (Madison), and finally, Southridge and Brookfield Square in Greendale and Brookfield respectively, both Milwaukee suburbs.

Also JCPenney has one of their main catalog distribution warehouses here in Wauwatosa, another suburb of Milwaukee. This building was emblazened on each side with the familiar (at the time) "Penneys" name. Sadly these were pulled down when the company started getting heavily into Internet-based merchandise sales around 2000-2001. To reflect the change, the entire catalog/internet business was rolled up under the name "JCP Logistics", which is the name now on the same building.

As for the other stores I mentioned. All their signage was updated between 1983 (when Penney got out of hardline goods and automotive to focus soley on 'soft' goods) to 1988. During this period, most of their higher performing stores got major renovations. Some stores eliminated their second level of selling space (such is the case with Manitowoc's) because of the hardlines being pulled.

This was my childhood mall...1960's. Seattle's Northgate was one of the first, if not the first, malls of its type in the country.It orginally was an outdoor mall, then enclosed, and now trying to head back to a more outdoor feel. I can't imagine any other malls going through so many transitions.The famous Northgate theatre is now demolished (seen upper left)in this photo.